step to arcadia
by tomato machine
Summary: She pauses a step short of exit, looks back, and winks at the throng of spectators, mouths still agape, and Wes flips them the bird with their hands still clasped for the hell of it, before they make their leave. Wes and Rui, Pkmn Colosseum sentence-fic.


_**Title**: three steps to an arcadian mirage.  
**Summary**: Wes and Rui, on what happens after the game is won and the world is saved.  
**Notes**:_ Sequel to a story that I will quite possibly never write. Fear the angst. Oh, and done for the 1sentence community at lj.

_life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles.  
__- _ALIVE - The Final Evolution.

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**01 = Walking  
**

Somewhere along the line, he grew used to the soft footfalls, inane chatter, and tinkling laughter (her, just her, really) and sometimes, he doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.

**02 = Neutral**

"So basically, there's the good and the bad-'' Rui ruminates, scrutinizing the crowbar in his hand, ''-and there's you, in-between."

**03 = Birthday**

True be told, Wes can't remember, that sort of thing was unheard of in Snagem, regardless, he utters a date on a whim and plays along when she buys him a cake.

**04 = Natural**

"…Is that really your natural hair color?"

**05 = Sordid**

He smirks in response, "Care to find out?"

**06 = Jousting**

Its a battle in its own right, Wes thinks, savoring the flustered look on her face as the tempo picks up, and he leans in for the kill.

**07 = Balloon**

It flutters in the pit of her stomach, spreads out like a blanket and rises like a cloud, its not so bad, Rui thinks, though she readies to chastise when he pulls away.

**08 = Weddings**

Wes returns one day with rice in his hair and a bouquet in hand, he tosses her the flowers and makes for the door, all the while grumbling about ex-colleagues and as yet, unfulfilled vendettas.

**09 = Wonder**

"There's… nothing left," Wes states, dry, pointedly, "What happens after we've saved the world?"

**10 = Quirks**

She quirks an eyebrow, like the answer's the most obvious thing in the world, like Wes, for all his battle scars and street-smarts, is just a boy beneath it all, and a foolish one at that, "At the end of the end you draw a line and start on a fresh sheet of paper."

**.**

**11 = Bane**

His suit itches, his collar's too tight and he's about to give in to impulse and tell the higher-ups, dignitaries and -aristocrats crowding around him (with their pressed suits and impeccably plastic faces) to sod off, but then Rui sidles up to him and makes a great show of a bow before offering a hand, "M'lady?"

**12 = Waltz**

He takes it, all the while grinning like a maniac, and together, they weave through the crowds as they make their escape in a dance all their own, fluid if not refined.

**13 = Jester**

She pauses a step short of exit, looks back, and winks at the throng of spectators, mouths still agape, and Wes flips them the bird with their hands still clasped for the hell of it, before they make their leave.

**14 = Belief**

Rui believes in a lot of things, in fables and legends and stardust, that one day Orre, parched and bled dry of its resources, will be green again, and most of all, she believes in Wes.

**15 = Jewel**

"We steal to feed, fight to protect, and kill so others don't have to stain their hands," Gonzap walks away, leaves the straggly runt of a boy to lick his wounds and nurse his battered ego "One day, you'll realize what's precious."

**16 = Serenade**

Hair slicked back and face pink, he clears his throat and begins; and though she has a camera on hand, she'll keep the memory close more for posterity's sake than blackmail.

**17 = Share**

They share a small apartment in Pyrite, and a haphazard assortment of knick-knacks and furniture; they still don't quite know what to call this arrangement, but she's happy, he's content, and they'll settle for this.

**.**

**18 = Just**

"You're just like the rest of us, Wes-" Nascour intones as they haul him away, "- and when they realize that, they'll strip you of the hero's mantle and leave you nothing in the dusty prison cell but the memories of conquest."

**19 = Balcony**

He's never been good with people; on the fifth anniversary of Cipher's downfall she finds him leaning on the rails of the balcony, eyes clouded and expression indiscernible as he stares at the streak of arching light.

**20 = Wishes**

She contemplates giving him a scare, but upon noticing the rigid set of his shoulders, opts to leave him be for once; instead, she traces the path of light and makes a wish of her own.

**21 = Breaking**

There is a façade he always dons, a distance he always maintains, but faced with his greatest obstacle thus far, he finds himself losing (: he'll keep running, and she'll keep closing the gap between them) and amidst all this, he finds himself impossibly, unfathomably afraid.

**22 = Quitting**

He cuts the bonds, burns the bridge, runs; he rides off in the dead of night, with no location in mind but ahead, and away.

**23 = Quiet**

She glides past musty corridors a ghost, curls up on his bed and for the longest time just breathes; it's quiet now, their apartment, cold, empty.

**24 = Solitary**

Now, he turns around-   
And finds no one there; Wes shakes off that feeling and walks on.

**25 = Whiskey and Rum**

Their first encounter following his departure is not on opposing sides of the battlefield, but in a dingy little pub west of Phenac; he watches as she downs her umpteenth daiquiri, as her body sinks from slouching to slumping onto the bar-top.

**26 = Soliloquy**

He pays her tab, scoops her up and throws a cocky look at anyone caught staring; he sighs when she clings to him on instinct and murmurs, more to himself then anyone else, "Haven't changed at all, have you?"

**27 = Sorrow**

He drives them to their- her apartment, lays her on her bed, tucks her in; is blind to the tears and deaf to the mumbled pleas: in her dreams, she fights her demons alone.

**28 = Stupidity**

Dazed and sleep fogged, all she registers of the pointy figure by her bedside is the tuft of spiky white hair, it takes three seconds for the realization to sink in, pure reflex to act; she grabs his hand as he makes to leave, " Stay."

**29 = Sojourn**

And he does, until her breathing falls into slow, even rhythm and the sky's burnt to mud and rust; he leaves behind two pokéballs and his three longest companions.

**30 = Blessing**

At the foot of t He looks down to where his shoe obscures the gaudy, upside down embroidery so it spells out _come home; _he smiles then, the first in a long time (the last for a long time), mutters something that could just as easily have been a _thank you _as a _sorry, _before he steps out and shuts the door behind him.

**31 = War**

After that he sells his soul, amasses his army, and becomes their fallen king; after that he's waging a war on the gods and the legends and everything between man and the world.

**32 = Worry**

"Are you sure about this?" Eagun asks; he still thinks it too much, that this will break her, his fragile little thing of a granddaughter; the boy might not be there anymore and he just wants her to understand.

**33 = Burning**

Eyes determined, she answers with a curt nod of her head, " I want the power to bring him down and bring him back," – and deep, deep down, Eagun feels something ignite.

**34 = Nowhere**

The Under is a city forgotten to most but its inhabitants, herein the city of neon lights and fairy-gold lie the outcasts, the runaways, the fallen (: those who shunned society and those who were shunned); here in the city of nothing is where she first starts her search.

**35 = Near  
**

For days, months, years (time slips past like fine grains of sand), she catches only sporadic glances of him, from the shadow of a cloak to the gleam of amber eyes; on the top of Mt. Coronet he leaves behind a calling card amidst the shattered fragments of a jewel; an invitation, a challenge.

**36 = Waste/Wasteland**

They stand on opposite ends of the spectrum, atop the rubble of his empire in ruins.

**37 = Bias**

She is no avant-garde, only a mere foot soldier in this war, the only reason she's the last one standing is because he's the enemy.

**38 = Whimsy**

"_It was on a whim, saving you, saving Orre_, everything-" he steps off his throne, sneers as he regards her, "- and now I'm bringing it down, all down."

**39 = Valiant**

The only reason she's still facing him when all others have fallen, back straight and eyes defiant, but already prickling at the edges is because she is Rui.

**40 = Question**

"Lies, _all lies_- " Rui tilts her head up to stare him straight in the eye, she needs this, needs to know that this is still Wes, not some megalomaniacal monster, "-you wanted to harness that power to turn Orre green again, didn't you?"**  
**

**41 = NUANCE**

Its in the little details that make all the difference, if one paid close enough attention one would notice the dull edge of the blade, the blood seeping through the clothes; they are down to their last now: him, Feraligator, her, Espeon.

**42 = Virtuous**

"Virtue-" he pauses to wipe the blood from his mouth "- has never been my strong suit.''

**43 = Smirk**

His body's aching, and his mind's numb, but he still has the energy (audacity) to smirk when she's taken him down, the finishing move was _return_, so bloody typical.

**44 = Sarcasm**

He's done unspeakable things, brought the wrath of the gods and the legends down on him, and at the end of it all, he stands (: a broken boy atop his broken empire), the one to stop the chaos; he couldn't pull the trigger in the end, and he laughs because he still can.

**45 = Victory**

He doesn't tilt her chin to stare wistfully into her eyes, nor does he wipe away her tears, no; he looks at her (all broken bones, fractured symphonies) and smiles, "Stand up, silly girl, you've won; the victor isn't supposed to look so sad."

**46 = Defeat**

This feels nothing like victory.

**47 = Breathing**

His breathing's shallow now, and by this point she's still holding him, still crying and angry, hating him and loving him and unsure of how to feel about it all.

**48 = Horizon**

If he strains his eyes he can see past the burning skies; there is a horizon beyond this nightmare, and he's sure even if she can't find arcadia, she'll build it.

**.**

**49 = Quarrel**

"You know nothing save my name (and even that may be a lie), yet you want to come along?" Wes sighs at her enthusiastic nod, opens his mouth_, _pauses, starts again,_ "You're not going to reason, are you?"_

**50 = JUMP**

"Superficial details are beside the point; so what do you say, Mr. Wes No-Last-Name?" she holds out a hand and grins; he hesitates, takes it nonetheless, "…Geronimo?"

.

.

* * *

Playlist goes:

Turning Japanese - The Revs   
Right As Rain - Adele  
Helicopter - The Feeling  
The Call - Regina Spektor   
Wake Up - The Arcade Fire

I remember playing this game when I was nine and thinking it was the most awesome thing in the world. That thought still presides. Somewhat.


End file.
